SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Robbins
Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/vix/)
today announced that it has commenced a class action on behalf of
investors who held or traded S&P 500 (“SPX”) option contracts (“SPX
Options”), CBOE Volatility Index (“VIX”) option contracts (“VIX
Options”), futures based on the VIX (“VIX Futures”), or VIX Exchange
Traded Products (“VIX ETPs”) on exchanges run by Cboe Global Markets,
Inc. (formerly known as CBOE Holdings, Inc.) and its affiliates (“CBOE”)
during the following time periods (“Class Period”):

From March 26, 2004 to the present in the case of VIX Futures and SPX
Options;

From February 24, 2006 to the present in the case of VIX Options; and

From August 2008 to the present in the case of VIX ETPs.

This action was filed in the United States District Court for Northern
District of Illinois and is captioned Bueno v. Cboe Global Markets,
Inc., et al., No. 18-cv-02435.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later
than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any
questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please
contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren J. Robbins of Robbins Geller at
800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via email at djr@rgrdlaw.com.
If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint
as filed at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/vix/.
Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead
plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing
and remain an absent class member.

The complaint alleges CBOE participated with others to manipulate the
VIX “fear gauge” in a systematic manner during the 2004 to 2018
timeframe. This alleged improper manipulation caused economic damages to
investors who traded in VIX futures, options and certain other VIX
derivatives. As a consequence of these activities, the complaint alleges
that CBOE and a few of its preferred traders violated the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Commodity Exchange Act and the Sherman Act.

CBOE runs the exclusive exchange for core VIX financial instruments in
the United States and is not permitted to run the VIX market in a
“rigged” manner, as the complaint alleges. The complaint alleges that in
February 2018, a whistleblower, who reportedly had held senior positions
at some of the largest investment firms in the world, disclosed
widespread manipulation of the VIX. After these disclosures were made
public, one former regulatory official responded that the whisteblower’s
claim “rings true.” Another former regulatory official reportedly
explained it was “quite clear” that the VIX can be manipulated and that
CBOE “should have sprung in to action” to bring any manipulation to a
halt. The complaint’s forensic quantitative analysis corroborates the
whistleblower’s claim. It also corroborates academic work that was
published in a prestigious, peer-reviewed academic journal in May 2017,
raising questions about whether the VIX was being manipulated and
suggesting various means of demonstrating that it was, in fact,
manipulated.

As alleged in the complaint, plaintiff’s recently completed forensic
analyses confirm that the VIX was manipulated during the Class Period.
The analyses also show, however, that the VIX manipulation abated to
some degree in the immediate aftermath of the May 2017 peer-reviewed
academic article mentioned above. The complaint alleges these May 2017
changes in the trading patterns underlying the VIX market tend to show
defendants’ culpable state of mind because, in essence, they changed
their trading behavior when faced with the risk being discovered. These
and other facts set forth in the complaint support the allegations that
CBOE and its preferred traders were “banging the VIX close” in a
systematic manner, throughout the Class Period. CBOE allegedly conferred
financial benefits and special trading privileges to a few traders who,
in exchange for driving higher trading volume (and fees) for CBOE,
enjoyed special privileges that allowed them to game the VIX and
manipulate VIX derivative prices to the detriment of the Class. CBOE, in
turn, benefited financially from the manipulation as VIX products were
its “flagship” products, which generated much of CBOE’s revenues, as the
complaint alleges.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all investors who lost
money trading VIX Options, VIX Futures and other VIX derivatives during
the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by counsel
that has extensive experience defending investors’ financial interests
and recovering their investment capital where, as the complaint alleges
in this case, their losses do not stem from normal market forces but
from market misconduct.

Robbins Geller is widely recognized as a leading law firm advising and
representing U.S. and international investors in securities litigation
and portfolio monitoring. With 200 lawyers in 10 offices, Robbins Geller
has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in
history. For the third consecutive year, the Firm ranked first in both
the total amount recovered for investors and the number of shareholder
class action recoveries in ISS’s SCAS Top 50 Report. Robbins Geller
attorneys have shaped the law in the areas of securities litigation and
shareholder rights and have recovered tens of billions of dollars on
behalf of the Firm’s clients. Robbins Geller not only secures recoveries
for defrauded investors, it also implements significant corporate
governance reforms, helping to improve the financial markets for
investors worldwide. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com
for more information.